An electric crackle cuts through the air at Bryant University’s 2025 AI Summit, where more than 70 members of Bryant’s faculty, staff, and leadership detail, discuss, and debate the most pressing issue in the classroom and the modern world: The rise of artificial intelligence.
Working together in small groups and across disciplines, the teams reimagine how we might teach and learn in an age when ChatGPT and other large language models, for all their promises and perils, have assumed a central place in students’ lives.
Emerging tools and best practices are discussed, of course; many in the room have published scholarly work involving AI, from health care to behavioral marketing research. But so are broader questions about the higher purpose of education and what it takes to inspire curiosity and responsible learning when the world’s answers are a tap away.
There are sparks of breakthrough, and quieter moments that prompt deep reflection. For many, the summit is a reminder of their time-honored mission as educators: to empower students to apply human intelligence and shape a better future for us all – even in the face of challenges that we have never confronted before.
It’s a point in history where the world will be redefined. And Bryant was built for this moment.
Since 1863, Bryant has ensured that its graduates are not only ready to lead with character — a key facet of the university’s mission — but prepared to push their industries into the future. Early students participated in banking simulations with the cutting-edge technology of their day: the typewriter. Today, that experiential spirit rings true in classrooms equipped with GPU workpods and AI-powered tools for data visualization and business intelligence.
“Our legacy is built on innovation,” says Ross Gittell, Ph.D., president of Bryant University. “Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing how we live, learn, and work. As a leader in higher education, it is our responsibility to equip the next generation with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world.”
We’re at an inflection point, notes Bryant’s Provost and Chief Academic Officer Rupendra Paliwal, Ph.D., who has been considering the rise of AI and its effects on teaching and learning since 2017, long before ChatGPT became a household name.
“It is a moment as big as the adoption of electricity or the creation of the internet,” he says. “So, once you accept the enormity of that change, then you start looking at every piece of what you do, and the ways in which you can transform and evolve.”
Our fundamental commitment to our students and the families, Paliwal notes, is that our graduates will be day one ready.
“That does not just mean developing a specific skillset in a specific discipline,” he adds. “The core of what we do as educators is becoming even more critical to ensure effective and responsible use of these new tools. That means helping students develop the ability to think through problems, even problems you have never seen before; come up with workable solutions; and then critically evaluate those solutions to see what you can do to improve them.
“We need to instill a love of learning,” he argues. “We must encourage curiosity in all of our students and in each other.”
To that end, Bryant’s AI renaissance is in conversation with other university initiatives, including the recently introduced Impact Core, a general education curriculum that cultivates character, resilience, teamwork, and leadership using the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The key, Paliwal notes, is to encourage discussion and collaboration To that end, the incoming Class of 2029 will engage in conversations on applications and implications of AI through an assigned set of curated readings.
The university must model what it preaches, and Paliwal credits the Board of Trustees with inspiring the entire Bryant community to lead with bold ideas. While Bryant’s AI-infused rebirth is both purposeful and well-considered, it by no means has been slow; the university is evolving rapidly to prepare young people for an ever-changing, increasingly complex world.
The future is front and center in Bryant’s classrooms, where faculty — backed by redesigned curricula, development support, and a mandate to explore — are empowering students to engage with AI and other emerging technologies across every field.
Whether they’re using AI tools in writing classes, applying data science to health care, or analyzing real-world datasets from industry partners, Bryant students are pushing boundaries and redefining frontiers. Bryant's Applied Artificial Intelligence minor, which is open to all majors and interdisciplinary by design, blends foundational AI theory with practical applications tailored to business, healthcare, humanities, science, and social impact.
Bryant students’ AI education goes beyond the classroom. During a recent “Hack-A-Thon,” for example, held during Bryant’s Research and Engagement Day, students, guided by university technology staff and startup accelerator SiliconXL, used AI coding tools to design applications that would improve life at the university, with cash prizes on the line for the winner.
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This hands-on education is supported by facilities like Bryant’s new Data Science hub, located within the university’s newly opened Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center, which includes three state-of-the-art labs: the Data Science Lab, the Data Visualization Lab, and the Artificial Intelligence Lab. Equipped with advanced technologies, they serve as active learning hubs and as collaborative spaces for students, faculty, and industry advisors to discuss and explore the transformative potential of AI.
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Bryant is creating its own powerful tools, as well. A suite of generative AI chatbots and tutors recently earned national recognition with 2025 US CIO 100 Awards. One of these innovations, Ask Tupper, a student-trained, AI-powered chatbot developed in collaboration with Alliant Digital, assists the university community by providing answers to questions based on publicly available information from Bryant’s websites.
Another, the Strategy Guru chatbot, conceptualized by Trustee Professor of Management Michael Roberto, D.B.A., provides tutoring and study assistance for Business 400 students. What the Guru doesn’t provide is easy answers — it instead leads students through the learning process and leaves them to make important connections on their own. A second chatbot tutor, building off Strategy Guru’s early success, will be introduced in Intro to Finance courses this fall.
To be truly real-world ready means to engage with the real world. To that end, Bryant has partnered with international companies and organizations as it sets the pace on artificial intelligence, allowing industry leaders to work directly with emerging talent and ensuring that students stay connected to the demands of a rapidly evolving economy.
The PwC AI in Accounting Fellowship, for instance, supports Bryant students with funding for conferences, software, and travel, but it also provides mentors from the Big Four professional services firm to help them explore AI’s impact on accounting.
Bob Calabro ’88, a Bryant University trustee and PwC partner, helped to spearhead the development of the program in association with PwC partners who are also Bryant alumni.
“We are excited to introduce students to the many opportunities available to them in the accounting field and to prepare them to make the most of those opportunities,” notes Calabro.
Powerful partnerships are keeping the university on the cutting edge of discovery in other ways, as well. Bryant recently took part in a two-year Ithaka S+R study to help develop guidelines and guardrails for using generative AI in higher education. The university is also one of a dozen leading global institutions participating in SuperCharger Ventures' Digital Education Council, which was formed to address the impact of AI and other new technologies on the future of education and work.
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A $426,623 Davis Educational Foundation grant supports the university’s faculty, guided by Bryant’s Center for Teaching Excellence, as they examine ethical and instructional uses of AI in research and classrooms under new academic guidelines. “Bryant’s faculty are eager to explore the pedagogical potential of AI in ways that uphold academic integrity and enhance the student experience,” says Terri Hasseler, Ph.D., director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. “Through this grant, we’ll build a community of practice that empowers faculty to harness AI as a tool for inclusive, effective, and forward-thinking instruction.”
It is the word “community” that resonates throughout Bryant’s AI efforts, notes Paliwal. When so much is in flux on a global scale, we must rely on one another.
This is a moment for humility as well as discovery, says Paliwal. “As the world changes around us and we have to rethink everything we do, no one person has all the answers. We can all learn from each other.”
To learn more about how Bryant is reimagining the future of higher education, visit https://www.bryant.edu/discover-bryant/ai-bryant.
